


Fault

by petersnotkingyet



Series: and the dundie for most medical emergencies on company time goes to... [1]
Category: The Office (US)
Genre: AU: Roy beats Jim up in the parking lot, Concussions, Gen, Hospitals, Injury, Jim gets beat up, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 05:23:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6182146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petersnotkingyet/pseuds/petersnotkingyet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roy beats Jim up in the parking lot.  It doesn't go well for Jim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fault

Jim wasn’t sure exactly why, but his desk seemed like the obvious place to go. Not home to change his clothes and get the blood off before the stains set or even just to the bathroom to clean his face up, but just his desk. He ghosted up to their floor, barely thinking, and beelined for his desk. He faintly heard Pam say, “Oh my god,” and stand up.

“Jim, that’s not funny,” Dwight scoffed, continuing to type. Jim sat down and tried to clear his throat. He picked up the garbage can from under his desk and spat a dark red glob of something thick and sticky. His whole face was hot, and tears prickled at the corners of his eyes.

“Okay, okay,” Pam said, hurrying over. “Lean over the garbage can, Jim. The blood’s running down the back of your throat.”

“I’ll go wet some paper towels,” Phyllis volunteered. In an attempt to be soothing, Pam put her hand to the back of her hand softly, pulling away when she felt something wet. It was blood, and she stared at her hand for several seconds before holding her hand away from her body and swallowing hard.

“Can someone go get the first aid kit? And tell Michael?” she said. Angela and Kevin got up from their desks, and Dwight leaned forward on his elbows.

“Were you assaulted?” Dwight asked. “Jim, did someone attack you?”

In lieu of responding, Jim squeezed his eyes shut and let his head dangle over the garbage can. Phyllis returned with a stack of dampened paper towels and offered one to Pam. She wiped her hands clean, took another, and squatted in front of Jim.

“Jim?” Pam said softly. “Can I clean your face up for you?”

Jim shook his head slightly and looked nauseous. Michael picked that moment to emerge from his office. He gasped dramatically and shoulder Pam to the side. “Is he breathing?” Michael questioned.

“Yeah,” Phyllis said dubiously.

“Well, what about his heartbeat?” Michael said. “Did any of you even think to check that?”

“Please stop talking,” Jim groaned. His eyes were still squeezed shut, and that was the first thing he’d said to any of them.

“He needs to go to the hospital,” Angela said, lugging the first aid kit at her side. “He probably has a concussion, his nose is probably broken, and his brain is probably leaking out of the back of his head.”

Dwight pulled his phone out, edged in next to Michael, and started taking pictures of the blood on Jim’s face and clothing. “What the hell are you doing?” Stanley said from where he’d been watching the altercation from his desk.

“It’s evidence,” Dwight stated. “For the police. I assume Jim will want to press charges against whoever attacked him.”

“Jim,” Michael said softly, reaching out like he wanted to cradle the younger man’s face and then stopping when he took a closer look at the blood. “Jim, who did this to you?”

Jim opened his eyes for a split second before grabbing the edges of the garbage can and throwing up. Michael recoiled immediately. “Oh, man,” Michael said. “That’s disgusting. Jim… that’s disgusting.”

“Here,” Pam said, going back to her original spot and handing Jim a paper towel once he stopped vomiting. Jim wiped at his face haphazardly and the dropped the paper towel into the garbage can and leaned on his forearm. Pam angled her head to get a look at his pupil’s and flinched sympathetically. “Your pupils are really dilated. You need to go to the hospital.”

“I feel gross,” Jim said slowly. “And it hurts. And my puke smells bad.”

“It sure does,” Dwight said.

“We should call an ambulance,” Michael said, exhaling and nodding to himself. “Alright, what should I tell them? White male approximately eighteen years old, attacked by thirty-five assailants, potential skull fracture?”

“Do you really think Jim is eighteen years old?” Pam said. “And he wasn’t attacked by thirty-five people. We don’t ever know what happened.”

“I do,” Creed said. “Roy beat him up.”

Pam rolled her eyes. “No, he didn’t,” she said.

“Yeah, he did,” Creed said. “I saw it on the security tapes.”

“Creed, I can’t deal with you right now,” Pam said. “I’m going to drive Jim to the hospital.”

“I’ll come with you,” Angela said. “Someone needs to make sure he doesn’t die while you’re driving, and I’m in charge of first aid in the office.”

“Alright, thanks,” Pam said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Creed shrugged and said, “Suit yourself. The police will be here soon either way.”

“Jim?” Pam prompted quietly. “Do you need help standing up? Angela and I are going to drive you to the hospital.”

“It’s too bright,” Jim said. “And it smells bad.”

“Dwight will take your trash out while we’re gone,” Pam said. “And I’ve got sunglasses in my car. You can wear them while we drive, but you need to go to the hospital.”

“Okay,” Jim said. Without warning he lurched to the feet unsteadily and then swayed to the side. Pam steadied him quickly and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

In the emergency room, Pam had to fill the forms out for Jim. He was still light-sensitive, and he’d thrown up again in the parking lot. His nose had stopped bleeding on the way there, but his shirt was definitely ruined. It was obvious that Jim had a concussion, so they got him back quickly for an X-ray and a CT scan. After that, the only thing to do was wait. Angela was huffy and bored, but Jim was too miserable for even someone like her to complain. Pam was thinking about what she told Roy and beginning to grow concerned about what Creed said.

Angela’s phone went off, and she read the text before saying, “They’ll have to get a statement from you either way, but Dwight says the police want to know if you plan on pressing charges.”

“I don’t,” Jim said.

“Did Roy really do this to you?” Pam asked softly.

Jim sighed and said, “Yeah.” Pam’s breath hitched in her throat.

“Why?”

Glancing over at Angela, Jim said, “Can we talk about this later?” Pam nodded and did her best to knuckle at her eyes casually.

“I… um… Do you want me to call your sister?” Pam offered. “The nurse said you’re probably going to have to stay overnight.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jim said.

“Alright. I’m just going to step out into the hallway then. This is a ‘no cell phone zone.’”

When Pam went back in, there was a doctor stapling the back of Jim’s head back together. “His nose is broken and he’s got a pretty bad concussion,” she informed Pam. “He’s going to have to stay at least one night, and he after that he can’t be released without someone to stay with him.”

“His sister is on her way,” Pam said.

“How long until I can go back to work?” Jim asked.

“It’ll probably be a week or two,” she said. “You don’t need to use cell phones or computers until your concussion is a little better. We’ll get you up to your own room, and then someone can let your sister know your room number.”

“You guys can get back to the office if you want,” Jim offered. The skin beneath his both his eyes was already swollen and dark. He looked awful. “Pam, can you ask Larissa to bring me a shirt that doesn’t look like a crime scene?”

“Yeah, of course,” Pam said. “Jim… I’m so sorry this happened.”

Even as miserable as he looked, Jim managed a half smile. “Not your fault, Beesly.”


End file.
